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CNN Sunday Morning

Hamas Chooses New Leader; American Soldier Killed in Iraq

Aired April 18, 2004 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: He came close to losing his life in Iraq. And now he's trying to find a new mission back at home.
Welcome back, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Renay San Miguel. We'll get to that story in a minute, but first here at the headlines at this hour.

Sources inside Hamas tell CNN that the militant group has chosen a new leader. No details have been given on the replacement's identity. The move comes a day after Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi was killed during an Israeli missile attack in Gaza. Hamas has vowed to retaliate against Israel for Rantisi's killing.

An American soldier is dead after his convoy was hit by a homemade bomb. The attack occurred in eastern Baghdad.

A Russian rocket is set to lift off early tomorrow morning. The craft is carrying a three man crew to the international space station. The crew, including American astronaut Michael Fink, will spend 183 days in space.

CALLAWAY: Bob Woodward's new book, "Plan of Attack," makes some startling new allegations about the build-up to the war in Iraq. Among them, President Bush didn't ask Colin Powell or Donald Rumsfeld about their opinion about going to war. But Woodward says that Vice President Dick Cheney did have the president's ear, describing Cheney's focus on Iraq as an unhealthy fixation.

Woodward writes, "The Secretary of State saw this in Cheney to such an extent he Powell, told colleagues that Cheney has a fever. It's an absolute fever. It's almost as if nothing else exists."

And turning now to the warfront in Iraq, there is word that another American soldier has died in Baghdad. For the latest developments, let's go right to CNN's Jim Clancy.

Jim, what can you tell us?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Catherine, the situation here today in Iraq is one where there's a lot more action on the battlefield than anybody wants. And there's a lot less progress in talks aimed to diffuse some of these situations than anybody had hoped. Right now, let's go through some of the hot spots. I want to take you all the way up to the Syrian border first, very close to it. Husebah (ph), a town there along the -- near the Syrian border, but still very much an Iraqi town, U.S. has had a lot of trouble there before. Overnight, there was a roadside bomb incident. When U.S. Marines went out to investigate, they were ambushed. Some accounts say as many 100 insurgents were firing mortars, rocket propelled grenades and small arms at them. Five U.S. Marines reported killed. A number of others wounded. At least 10 of the insurgents killed. Those -- the fighting, hit and run fighting, continued for hours. It continued today.

Also, another hot spot, Najaf. U.S. forces there squared off outside the city, along with Spanish troops making up the coalition forces around that city, facing off with some members of the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr, a militia that informed sources tell us today is making use of some of the Fedayeen Saddam. By paying these people money, the former supporters of Saddam Hussein are lending their armed support now, they're well trained, their armed support to Muqtada al- Sadr. The negotiations there not making much progress at all.

Meantime to Fallujah, where there's a nominal cease-fire. Let me just show you what that cease-fire looks like. These are scenes from overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOTS FIRING)

ABDUD AZIZ AL-HAKIM, IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL (through translator): We have always believed that removing Saddam and his regime was the task of the Iraqi people. And the international community must play the role of supporting the Iraqi people to achieve it. Anyway, the United States found the way to topple Saddam. And a majority of the Iraqis were so happy about that, because their goal was achieved.

At the same time, we must change the wrong policies that have caused so many problems until now. And to see more of the democracy and the freedom implemented in the right way for the people, so they can see their will being respected enough to choose the regime that they want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right, that was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, also respected Shi'ia cleric.

Just commenting there on the overall situation, why the U.S. is having so much problems here. Now from the other side, the coalition is extremely frustrated that it would appear the negotiations, particularly in Fallujah, are not making much progress. Yes, the U.S. made a show of conciliation, by opening up a road to the hospital there, the major facility that was behind its lines. But in the talks, no real progress toward getting anybody to collect arms, to getting the Iraqi police back on the city streets. Now the problem with all of this lack of progress is, according to some coalition officials, there's a sense here that people want the problem to go away without being solved. That isn't going to happen. The real risk here is the chance of military -- renewed military action there in Fallujah is rising. Back to you, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jim, thank you. That's Jim Clancy.

SAN MIGUEL: Want to change our focus in the Mideast for just a second and take you live to Gaza City, where you're looking at live pictures right now of the burial. A funeral procession and the burial of Hamas' leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who was killed, along with two bodyguards, when a missile fired from an Israeli helicopter destroyed their car. This killing coming nearly a month after the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Akmed Yassin, was killed in the same manner.

Our CNN's John Vause is there. We hope to hear a report on this later on in the morning.

Now back to Iraq. Every week, we introduce you to service men and women many call heroes of war. Today we have the story of Marine sergeant Chad Shevlin. A year ago, he suffered severe combat injuries.

And as CNN's Bill Tucker reports, he's been fighting a personal battle every since.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bless you! You sneezing?

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Chad Shevlin first met his daughter, Makayla (ph) a year ago. She was two months old, born while he was in Kuwait getting ready for war in Iraq. The meeting almost didn't happen. In Baghdad, the sergeant came within inches of losing his life.

SGT. CHAD SHEVLIN, U.S. MARINES: We took about five to six RPG hits in the track itself before one came up underneath the hatch and blasted me in the face. I put my hand up on my neck and realized my finger went in my neck and it was kind of -- a lot of blood on my hands so I knew I was hit. So then I tried to yell and I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face. Some people said they seen me and I was just a pile of mush basically.

TUCKER: Shevlin lost his jaw, his esophagus badly damaged. Just 23 years old, he worried about the future.

SHEVLIN: I started thinking about what could I do if they tell me that I can't be a cop or continue to be a marine.

TUCKER: Throughout the past year he's undergone a series of reconstructive surgeries with remarkable results. He credits the support of his family.

SHEVLIN: They've been great. I mean it's probably why I healed so fast. The doctors have very impressed with my heal rate. Something that would take an average person years to do I'm doing within like half the time.

TUCKER: Shevlin is scheduled for more surgeries before his face is completely restored. With job offers to be a cop back home in New Hampshire, he's anxious to get through with them and get on with a new life.

Bill Tucker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL: We want to wish Sergeant Shevlin all the luck in the world. We also want to remind you we bring you hero stories every week here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

CALLAWAY: Well, we already have the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency. And now the president's thinking about another group to watch all three. So is that the answer to fixing what some say is a broken system? The author of "The Secret History of the FBI" will join us live next hour.

And also coming up at 9:00 Eastern time, there's just a little more than two months left before the planned handover of Iraq. Are they ready? Two senators join us live.

Then at 9:45, a rare look inside al Qaeda through the eyes of a young man who once lived with a family of Osama bin Laden. A preview of a front line documentary coming up at 9:00.

Also, the sad end to the search for missing North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LANG, DRU SJODIN'S BOYFRIEND: ...but she is looking down and she is happy today, because we are going to bring her home finally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Police finally find Dru Sjodin, the body of the 22- year old college student was found at a previous search area that was covered by snow drifts. Well, the weather led to police -- led police calling off their searches in December. And police resumed their search yesterday. Sjodin's family and friends were devastated by the discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANG: Realizing that we had a coin here and we -- the coin turned up the way we didn't want it to. I was waiting for that call from Florida or something and hoping to go get her or whatever she was.

But we didn't get that side. We got the other side of the coin, which is so horrible. It's a horrible reality that we're dealing with today. But both scenarios meant we bring Dru home. You know, the mission has always been where are you, Dru? Where are you, Dru? We'll find you. And we did today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: A convicted sex offender is in jail on kidnapping charges stemming from Sjodin's November disappearance.

SAN MIGUEL: Here are some other stories making news across America. In Augusta, Georgia, the FBI joins the search for a missing pregnant woman. Police believe 29-year old Tamara Dunston may have walked in on a burglary in progress at her mother's home.

In Maryland, a group of 26 Navy reservists received special commendations for their actions during a water taxi accident last month. The reservists helped rescue people who had been thrown into the freezing water during the accident. Five of the men received the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism, but their highest praise came from a grateful survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS PIERCE, WIFE & DAUGHTER DIED IN HARBOR ACCIDENT: You have been called heroes the past few weeks. And I'm also sure that that does not make a lot of sense to you. So I'm going to say it a little bit differently. I would follow each and every one of you into battle. Thank you all for being there that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAN MIGUEL: The reservists also received special resolutions from both Houses of Congress.

CALLAWAY: Well, are you still recovering from the pain of filing your taxes? We'll take a look at how to make it painless next time April 15 comes around. That's coming up next on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, this isn't necessarily a highlight from last week, especially if you had to go to a post office. The sight may still send chills down your spine. People lining up and staring down the clock for this past Thursday's tax filing deadline. And as always, millions waiting until the last minute to get their taxes in.

Now before you breathe that deep sigh of relief, though, because tax filing day has come and gone, consider this. There are ways to make it easier on yourself next time. And you can start right now.

Beverly Goodman of "Smart Money" magazine joins us now with some smart ways we can make the season a bit less taxing.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

BEVERLY GOODMAN, SMART MONEY MAGAZINE: Hi, thanks. SAN MIGUEL: You know, a lot of Americans are probably going this is the last thing I want to hear, another tax story. We just went through all of this mess and this hassle. Can you promise that not only will this make it easier, you know, when April 15 next year rolls around, but the changes that we can make will be easy to accomplish as well?

GOODMAN: The changes are easy to make, whether paying taxes or not is another story. The first thing everyone should do is just take a look at their 2003 return and see how much they over or underpaid. And if it's by more than a few hundred dollars, it could be problematic.

The easiest way to solve that is just to go to your employer and change the amount of withholding on your W-4 forms.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, that's a lot of things that may have popped up during this. But also, you know, when you were dealing with interesting come on investments, the 401(K)s and the IRAs, are there any changes that we can make now to help out next year?

GOODMAN: Yes, you can really run a much more tax efficient portfolio if you start looking at it early in the year. You're able to cherry pick gains and losses and use them to offset one another earlier in the year, rather than making all those decisions in December.

And also, in -- with regard to dividends, if you're getting a lot of income from stocks dividends that's now taxed at a lower rate, you can make that adjustment earlier in the year. So you're getting that money back throughout the year, rather than waiting until next April.

SAN MIGUEL: You mentioned talking to the employer about the withholding. What about also -- I mean, I've heard people talk about the issue of advancing or deferring income and how that might help you, you know, when it comes to bonuses that you're expecting and that kind of thing?

GOODMAN: If you know that your getting a large bonus towards the end of the year, if you can defer that income, it's less money that you need to pay taxes on this year.

If, though, you think you're going to be hit by the AMT and you know, you've been hit by the AMT in the past, sometimes it actually pays to accelerate income into this year, because the highest tax rate of the alternative minimum tax is 28 percent, which is actually lower than the ordinary income tax rate.

SAN MIGUEL: A lot of people, when they were getting ready for April 15th of this year, you know, were having to go through all of those receipts and all the things that they had to save to make sure they could itemize and you know, say that they could claim this deduction and that.

Are there things that maybe we shouldn't have to keep or we don't really need to keep in our file cabinets? GOODMAN: Truthfully, it pays to keep almost everything. Pay stubs and monthly or quarterly statements, you can get rid of as soon as you get the year-end ones. And you make sure that they reconcile and everything's, you know, in place. But it generally pays to have more documentation than less.

SAN MIGUEL: All right. So we'll just have to clean out the file cabinets next April 15. We'll start on them this year. Beverly Goodman with "Smart Money" magazine, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

GOODMAN: Thank you.

SAN MIGUEL: You bet. Catherine?

CALLAWAY: Well hopefully, your taxes didn't make you pull your hair out. Check out these pictures and don't try this at home. Find out what it's all about when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, this guy could give Samson a run for his money, though I don't know if he's running right now. In Russia, 14- year old Boris Klepnikov (ph) may have set a world record for the hair pull. I guess they keep records on that kind of thing. He tugged a 34 ton train nearly 10 feet. After that, one spectator probably proclaimed that the stunt gave glory to Russia.

Here are two more records we suggest Boris try for. Longest hair, just under 14 feet, and heaviest train pull, which stands at 984 tons. Or maybe he could just balance 97 milk crates on his head. Watch out -- you know, watch -- we're going to find out later if he's not just the president of the Hair Club for Men. He's also a member.

CALLAWAY: He's just 14-years old, though. So he's been pulling things with his hair since he was just a little guy.

SAN MIGUEL: He's been practicing. And I guess he would need to practice with that kind of...

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That guy right there was 14- years old?

SAN MIGUEL: Yes.

CALLAWAY: Yes, that's what the wire copy says.

MARCIANO: Man, I don't know what they're feeding them over there in Russia.

SAN MIGUEL: Strong follicles there.

MARCIANO: Yes, good strong follicles as well.

CALLAWAY: Look at that guy. And how do you come up with this, you know? MARCIANO: I don't know, but let's get him a bell for some suspenders.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right.

MARCIANO: Do you think he's a plumber?

CALLAWAY: We think so. All right, guys.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right, he's got that plumber's thing going.

CALLAWAY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He probably worked very hard on that.

MARCIANO: Local 49, OK.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right.

MARCIANO: Hey, guys. Back to the weather we go. And we'll talk about the weather headlines for this morning. We do have a lot of warm air that is going to make Sunday feel like summer across much of the country today and right on through tomorrow. And if you're looking for an excuse to take tomorrow off, especially in Massachusetts, which I think is a holiday, you're going to enjoy it.

Stormy across the Upper Midwest. Cool showers out west again today. Folks in Salt Lake City are going to feel more like late February almost.

All right, here's the warm air. Across Florida, tapping the Gulf of Mexico. And the warm air surges all the way up across the Appalachians and through Detroit and across the Northeast with the exception of Boston today. We'll explain that in a minute.

Windy conditions as well. St. Louis to Chicago to Detroit, most of the action as far as thunderstorms are concerned today, in through lower part of Michigan and Minneapolis to the north. Iowa last night another rough night with some thunderstorms and two tornado touchdowns.

Cool air, there it is across the inner mountain west and the west coast also. Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Diego, once again will be on the chilly side today.

Chilly in Boston. 58, winds off that cool Atlanta border. Winds go westerly tomorrow. You bump it up to 81 for the marathon. New York, 72. 85 degrees expected in D.C. today. Beautiful.

Let's go live there to our nation's capital for the shot of the White House. And good morning, D.C. It's currently 58 degrees. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful Sunday for you and a rather warm Monday also.

All right, back to the maps we go. Down to the south and east, here's your forecast for the next couple days. Miami, Atlanta National, everybody enjoying temperatures that will be in the lower 80s. And pretty low levels of humidity, although tomorrow, the humidity levels will begin to bump up.

84 in Chicago today. Warm, windy. Thunderstorms tonight, cooler tomorrow. The winds tomorrow in Detroit. And temperatures in St. Louis almost as warm as yesterday. Windy in Denver. 80 degrees in Phoenix and 81 degrees expected in Dallas.

Hope I didn't offend any plumbers this morning.

CALLAWAY: Yes, the phone is ringing from Russia right now.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right, that's right. Line one for you.

MARCIANO: See you guys in a bit.

SAN MIGUEL: All right, thanks a lot.

CALLAWAY: We have an update now on our top story this morning. In Gaza City, tens of thousands of Palestinians turn out for the funeral procession of slain Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Israel assassinated him yesterday less than a month after he took office. The militant group says that it has appointed a new leader, but his identity is being kept secret to protect him.

And at the Vatican in his weekly Sunday address, Pope John Paul appealed for Iraqi kidnappers to release their hostages. And he called for an end to all of the bloodletting across the Middle East.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, we're going to be talking about some e-mails right now. We've been asking our viewers, who are writing into wam@cnn.com, when it comes to the Middle East, is U.S. foreign policy on the right track? Harry from Whiting, Maine writes in, "The United States is never on the right track when it follows paths of former colonial governments. We can't clean up their mess and we should stop trying."

CALLAWAY: And here's another one that says "U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is about where it should be with one exception. We need to enlist the assistance of the U.N. to help us get out of Iraq.

And we would like to continue to read your e-mail this morning. Our question again is U.S. foreign policy on the right track? Here's our address, wam@cnn.com.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 18, 2004 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: He came close to losing his life in Iraq. And now he's trying to find a new mission back at home.
Welcome back, everyone. I'm Catherine Callaway.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Renay San Miguel. We'll get to that story in a minute, but first here at the headlines at this hour.

Sources inside Hamas tell CNN that the militant group has chosen a new leader. No details have been given on the replacement's identity. The move comes a day after Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi was killed during an Israeli missile attack in Gaza. Hamas has vowed to retaliate against Israel for Rantisi's killing.

An American soldier is dead after his convoy was hit by a homemade bomb. The attack occurred in eastern Baghdad.

A Russian rocket is set to lift off early tomorrow morning. The craft is carrying a three man crew to the international space station. The crew, including American astronaut Michael Fink, will spend 183 days in space.

CALLAWAY: Bob Woodward's new book, "Plan of Attack," makes some startling new allegations about the build-up to the war in Iraq. Among them, President Bush didn't ask Colin Powell or Donald Rumsfeld about their opinion about going to war. But Woodward says that Vice President Dick Cheney did have the president's ear, describing Cheney's focus on Iraq as an unhealthy fixation.

Woodward writes, "The Secretary of State saw this in Cheney to such an extent he Powell, told colleagues that Cheney has a fever. It's an absolute fever. It's almost as if nothing else exists."

And turning now to the warfront in Iraq, there is word that another American soldier has died in Baghdad. For the latest developments, let's go right to CNN's Jim Clancy.

Jim, what can you tell us?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Catherine, the situation here today in Iraq is one where there's a lot more action on the battlefield than anybody wants. And there's a lot less progress in talks aimed to diffuse some of these situations than anybody had hoped. Right now, let's go through some of the hot spots. I want to take you all the way up to the Syrian border first, very close to it. Husebah (ph), a town there along the -- near the Syrian border, but still very much an Iraqi town, U.S. has had a lot of trouble there before. Overnight, there was a roadside bomb incident. When U.S. Marines went out to investigate, they were ambushed. Some accounts say as many 100 insurgents were firing mortars, rocket propelled grenades and small arms at them. Five U.S. Marines reported killed. A number of others wounded. At least 10 of the insurgents killed. Those -- the fighting, hit and run fighting, continued for hours. It continued today.

Also, another hot spot, Najaf. U.S. forces there squared off outside the city, along with Spanish troops making up the coalition forces around that city, facing off with some members of the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr, a militia that informed sources tell us today is making use of some of the Fedayeen Saddam. By paying these people money, the former supporters of Saddam Hussein are lending their armed support now, they're well trained, their armed support to Muqtada al- Sadr. The negotiations there not making much progress at all.

Meantime to Fallujah, where there's a nominal cease-fire. Let me just show you what that cease-fire looks like. These are scenes from overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOTS FIRING)

ABDUD AZIZ AL-HAKIM, IRAQ GOVERNING COUNCIL (through translator): We have always believed that removing Saddam and his regime was the task of the Iraqi people. And the international community must play the role of supporting the Iraqi people to achieve it. Anyway, the United States found the way to topple Saddam. And a majority of the Iraqis were so happy about that, because their goal was achieved.

At the same time, we must change the wrong policies that have caused so many problems until now. And to see more of the democracy and the freedom implemented in the right way for the people, so they can see their will being respected enough to choose the regime that they want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right, that was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, also respected Shi'ia cleric.

Just commenting there on the overall situation, why the U.S. is having so much problems here. Now from the other side, the coalition is extremely frustrated that it would appear the negotiations, particularly in Fallujah, are not making much progress. Yes, the U.S. made a show of conciliation, by opening up a road to the hospital there, the major facility that was behind its lines. But in the talks, no real progress toward getting anybody to collect arms, to getting the Iraqi police back on the city streets. Now the problem with all of this lack of progress is, according to some coalition officials, there's a sense here that people want the problem to go away without being solved. That isn't going to happen. The real risk here is the chance of military -- renewed military action there in Fallujah is rising. Back to you, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Jim, thank you. That's Jim Clancy.

SAN MIGUEL: Want to change our focus in the Mideast for just a second and take you live to Gaza City, where you're looking at live pictures right now of the burial. A funeral procession and the burial of Hamas' leader, Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who was killed, along with two bodyguards, when a missile fired from an Israeli helicopter destroyed their car. This killing coming nearly a month after the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Akmed Yassin, was killed in the same manner.

Our CNN's John Vause is there. We hope to hear a report on this later on in the morning.

Now back to Iraq. Every week, we introduce you to service men and women many call heroes of war. Today we have the story of Marine sergeant Chad Shevlin. A year ago, he suffered severe combat injuries.

And as CNN's Bill Tucker reports, he's been fighting a personal battle every since.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bless you! You sneezing?

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sergeant Chad Shevlin first met his daughter, Makayla (ph) a year ago. She was two months old, born while he was in Kuwait getting ready for war in Iraq. The meeting almost didn't happen. In Baghdad, the sergeant came within inches of losing his life.

SGT. CHAD SHEVLIN, U.S. MARINES: We took about five to six RPG hits in the track itself before one came up underneath the hatch and blasted me in the face. I put my hand up on my neck and realized my finger went in my neck and it was kind of -- a lot of blood on my hands so I knew I was hit. So then I tried to yell and I couldn't yell because my jaw got pretty much blown off my face. Some people said they seen me and I was just a pile of mush basically.

TUCKER: Shevlin lost his jaw, his esophagus badly damaged. Just 23 years old, he worried about the future.

SHEVLIN: I started thinking about what could I do if they tell me that I can't be a cop or continue to be a marine.

TUCKER: Throughout the past year he's undergone a series of reconstructive surgeries with remarkable results. He credits the support of his family.

SHEVLIN: They've been great. I mean it's probably why I healed so fast. The doctors have very impressed with my heal rate. Something that would take an average person years to do I'm doing within like half the time.

TUCKER: Shevlin is scheduled for more surgeries before his face is completely restored. With job offers to be a cop back home in New Hampshire, he's anxious to get through with them and get on with a new life.

Bill Tucker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAN MIGUEL: We want to wish Sergeant Shevlin all the luck in the world. We also want to remind you we bring you hero stories every week here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

CALLAWAY: Well, we already have the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency. And now the president's thinking about another group to watch all three. So is that the answer to fixing what some say is a broken system? The author of "The Secret History of the FBI" will join us live next hour.

And also coming up at 9:00 Eastern time, there's just a little more than two months left before the planned handover of Iraq. Are they ready? Two senators join us live.

Then at 9:45, a rare look inside al Qaeda through the eyes of a young man who once lived with a family of Osama bin Laden. A preview of a front line documentary coming up at 9:00.

Also, the sad end to the search for missing North Dakota student Dru Sjodin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LANG, DRU SJODIN'S BOYFRIEND: ...but she is looking down and she is happy today, because we are going to bring her home finally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Police finally find Dru Sjodin, the body of the 22- year old college student was found at a previous search area that was covered by snow drifts. Well, the weather led to police -- led police calling off their searches in December. And police resumed their search yesterday. Sjodin's family and friends were devastated by the discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANG: Realizing that we had a coin here and we -- the coin turned up the way we didn't want it to. I was waiting for that call from Florida or something and hoping to go get her or whatever she was.

But we didn't get that side. We got the other side of the coin, which is so horrible. It's a horrible reality that we're dealing with today. But both scenarios meant we bring Dru home. You know, the mission has always been where are you, Dru? Where are you, Dru? We'll find you. And we did today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: A convicted sex offender is in jail on kidnapping charges stemming from Sjodin's November disappearance.

SAN MIGUEL: Here are some other stories making news across America. In Augusta, Georgia, the FBI joins the search for a missing pregnant woman. Police believe 29-year old Tamara Dunston may have walked in on a burglary in progress at her mother's home.

In Maryland, a group of 26 Navy reservists received special commendations for their actions during a water taxi accident last month. The reservists helped rescue people who had been thrown into the freezing water during the accident. Five of the men received the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism, but their highest praise came from a grateful survivor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS PIERCE, WIFE & DAUGHTER DIED IN HARBOR ACCIDENT: You have been called heroes the past few weeks. And I'm also sure that that does not make a lot of sense to you. So I'm going to say it a little bit differently. I would follow each and every one of you into battle. Thank you all for being there that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAN MIGUEL: The reservists also received special resolutions from both Houses of Congress.

CALLAWAY: Well, are you still recovering from the pain of filing your taxes? We'll take a look at how to make it painless next time April 15 comes around. That's coming up next on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, this isn't necessarily a highlight from last week, especially if you had to go to a post office. The sight may still send chills down your spine. People lining up and staring down the clock for this past Thursday's tax filing deadline. And as always, millions waiting until the last minute to get their taxes in.

Now before you breathe that deep sigh of relief, though, because tax filing day has come and gone, consider this. There are ways to make it easier on yourself next time. And you can start right now.

Beverly Goodman of "Smart Money" magazine joins us now with some smart ways we can make the season a bit less taxing.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

BEVERLY GOODMAN, SMART MONEY MAGAZINE: Hi, thanks. SAN MIGUEL: You know, a lot of Americans are probably going this is the last thing I want to hear, another tax story. We just went through all of this mess and this hassle. Can you promise that not only will this make it easier, you know, when April 15 next year rolls around, but the changes that we can make will be easy to accomplish as well?

GOODMAN: The changes are easy to make, whether paying taxes or not is another story. The first thing everyone should do is just take a look at their 2003 return and see how much they over or underpaid. And if it's by more than a few hundred dollars, it could be problematic.

The easiest way to solve that is just to go to your employer and change the amount of withholding on your W-4 forms.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, that's a lot of things that may have popped up during this. But also, you know, when you were dealing with interesting come on investments, the 401(K)s and the IRAs, are there any changes that we can make now to help out next year?

GOODMAN: Yes, you can really run a much more tax efficient portfolio if you start looking at it early in the year. You're able to cherry pick gains and losses and use them to offset one another earlier in the year, rather than making all those decisions in December.

And also, in -- with regard to dividends, if you're getting a lot of income from stocks dividends that's now taxed at a lower rate, you can make that adjustment earlier in the year. So you're getting that money back throughout the year, rather than waiting until next April.

SAN MIGUEL: You mentioned talking to the employer about the withholding. What about also -- I mean, I've heard people talk about the issue of advancing or deferring income and how that might help you, you know, when it comes to bonuses that you're expecting and that kind of thing?

GOODMAN: If you know that your getting a large bonus towards the end of the year, if you can defer that income, it's less money that you need to pay taxes on this year.

If, though, you think you're going to be hit by the AMT and you know, you've been hit by the AMT in the past, sometimes it actually pays to accelerate income into this year, because the highest tax rate of the alternative minimum tax is 28 percent, which is actually lower than the ordinary income tax rate.

SAN MIGUEL: A lot of people, when they were getting ready for April 15th of this year, you know, were having to go through all of those receipts and all the things that they had to save to make sure they could itemize and you know, say that they could claim this deduction and that.

Are there things that maybe we shouldn't have to keep or we don't really need to keep in our file cabinets? GOODMAN: Truthfully, it pays to keep almost everything. Pay stubs and monthly or quarterly statements, you can get rid of as soon as you get the year-end ones. And you make sure that they reconcile and everything's, you know, in place. But it generally pays to have more documentation than less.

SAN MIGUEL: All right. So we'll just have to clean out the file cabinets next April 15. We'll start on them this year. Beverly Goodman with "Smart Money" magazine, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

GOODMAN: Thank you.

SAN MIGUEL: You bet. Catherine?

CALLAWAY: Well hopefully, your taxes didn't make you pull your hair out. Check out these pictures and don't try this at home. Find out what it's all about when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAN MIGUEL: Well, this guy could give Samson a run for his money, though I don't know if he's running right now. In Russia, 14- year old Boris Klepnikov (ph) may have set a world record for the hair pull. I guess they keep records on that kind of thing. He tugged a 34 ton train nearly 10 feet. After that, one spectator probably proclaimed that the stunt gave glory to Russia.

Here are two more records we suggest Boris try for. Longest hair, just under 14 feet, and heaviest train pull, which stands at 984 tons. Or maybe he could just balance 97 milk crates on his head. Watch out -- you know, watch -- we're going to find out later if he's not just the president of the Hair Club for Men. He's also a member.

CALLAWAY: He's just 14-years old, though. So he's been pulling things with his hair since he was just a little guy.

SAN MIGUEL: He's been practicing. And I guess he would need to practice with that kind of...

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That guy right there was 14- years old?

SAN MIGUEL: Yes.

CALLAWAY: Yes, that's what the wire copy says.

MARCIANO: Man, I don't know what they're feeding them over there in Russia.

SAN MIGUEL: Strong follicles there.

MARCIANO: Yes, good strong follicles as well.

CALLAWAY: Look at that guy. And how do you come up with this, you know? MARCIANO: I don't know, but let's get him a bell for some suspenders.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right.

MARCIANO: Do you think he's a plumber?

CALLAWAY: We think so. All right, guys.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right, he's got that plumber's thing going.

CALLAWAY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He probably worked very hard on that.

MARCIANO: Local 49, OK.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right.

MARCIANO: Hey, guys. Back to the weather we go. And we'll talk about the weather headlines for this morning. We do have a lot of warm air that is going to make Sunday feel like summer across much of the country today and right on through tomorrow. And if you're looking for an excuse to take tomorrow off, especially in Massachusetts, which I think is a holiday, you're going to enjoy it.

Stormy across the Upper Midwest. Cool showers out west again today. Folks in Salt Lake City are going to feel more like late February almost.

All right, here's the warm air. Across Florida, tapping the Gulf of Mexico. And the warm air surges all the way up across the Appalachians and through Detroit and across the Northeast with the exception of Boston today. We'll explain that in a minute.

Windy conditions as well. St. Louis to Chicago to Detroit, most of the action as far as thunderstorms are concerned today, in through lower part of Michigan and Minneapolis to the north. Iowa last night another rough night with some thunderstorms and two tornado touchdowns.

Cool air, there it is across the inner mountain west and the west coast also. Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Diego, once again will be on the chilly side today.

Chilly in Boston. 58, winds off that cool Atlanta border. Winds go westerly tomorrow. You bump it up to 81 for the marathon. New York, 72. 85 degrees expected in D.C. today. Beautiful.

Let's go live there to our nation's capital for the shot of the White House. And good morning, D.C. It's currently 58 degrees. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful Sunday for you and a rather warm Monday also.

All right, back to the maps we go. Down to the south and east, here's your forecast for the next couple days. Miami, Atlanta National, everybody enjoying temperatures that will be in the lower 80s. And pretty low levels of humidity, although tomorrow, the humidity levels will begin to bump up.

84 in Chicago today. Warm, windy. Thunderstorms tonight, cooler tomorrow. The winds tomorrow in Detroit. And temperatures in St. Louis almost as warm as yesterday. Windy in Denver. 80 degrees in Phoenix and 81 degrees expected in Dallas.

Hope I didn't offend any plumbers this morning.

CALLAWAY: Yes, the phone is ringing from Russia right now.

SAN MIGUEL: That's right, that's right. Line one for you.

MARCIANO: See you guys in a bit.

SAN MIGUEL: All right, thanks a lot.

CALLAWAY: We have an update now on our top story this morning. In Gaza City, tens of thousands of Palestinians turn out for the funeral procession of slain Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi. Israel assassinated him yesterday less than a month after he took office. The militant group says that it has appointed a new leader, but his identity is being kept secret to protect him.

And at the Vatican in his weekly Sunday address, Pope John Paul appealed for Iraqi kidnappers to release their hostages. And he called for an end to all of the bloodletting across the Middle East.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, we're going to be talking about some e-mails right now. We've been asking our viewers, who are writing into wam@cnn.com, when it comes to the Middle East, is U.S. foreign policy on the right track? Harry from Whiting, Maine writes in, "The United States is never on the right track when it follows paths of former colonial governments. We can't clean up their mess and we should stop trying."

CALLAWAY: And here's another one that says "U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is about where it should be with one exception. We need to enlist the assistance of the U.N. to help us get out of Iraq.

And we would like to continue to read your e-mail this morning. Our question again is U.S. foreign policy on the right track? Here's our address, wam@cnn.com.

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